To put this all into perspective ill tell you about my riding experience. I started riding when i was 15 and have been riding continually over the years and im now 43. Im crazy about bikes and ride Trials and Enduro almost every weekend. Ive had loads of new bikes over the years and often picked up a new one the day after i finished the Scottish Six days as it seemed like a good time to get rid of it. I ride at clubman level. At one point i was riding with the experts but i didn't enjoy it as much. Ive ridden most nationals up and down the country over the years , but never really fully enjoyed them as they were out of my league. This was when i decided to go twinshock in about 2005. I then got into the Spanish scene and started collecting bikes amassing quite a few . Im pretty mechanically and practically minded and can tackle most things including electrical issues - its only experience and the confidence to jump in.

The idea behind this blog is to tell you about my experience with the bike.Im not paid by anyone advertising in money or bits and I will tell you everything . I'm not beholden to sponsors . Ill tell you everything good or not.

I had considered buying a GasGas but hadnt test ridden one or anything else.Id have probably bought a year old GasGas to avoid the 1st year depreciation. I was really interested in the Jotagas bike after seeing it in magazines and on the internet. I was aware that , as with all new bikes there had been a few problems with a one or 2 of them , but i had heard that the rider who had this problem was a very heavy guy and the bike was just not built for his weight.I didn't see any of this i just heard it from others , like you do. So , these problems weren't putting me off.

I was particularly swayed towards to buy a Jotagas as Jordi Tarres had been involved. Being a fairly careful and cynical to boot id imagined that perhaps Jordi was just the front man , the poster boy to sell the bikes.

Anyway ... having this website opened the doors to Jordi Tarres' house to interview him (this can be found elsewhere on this website) I saw the prototypes for the Jotagas at his house along with hundreds of Jotagas parts and some bikes. I saw his first steel frames and his secret workshop "No photos". I can tell you 100% Jordi designed and built this bike himself. It is his bike , he is 100% immersed in this project and Jotagas is full time job.

The next day, at the Andorra World trial i rode the 2012 Jotagas of former Merlin Works rider Joan Freixas. He now works for Jotagas in European development , which means he assists the European importers with any issues they have.. I was very impressed with the bike in every respect. The 2013 bike was on display for the first time .

The 2012 Jotagas JTG 300's waiting to be ridden at the Andorra World trial

I spoke to Joan about the bike and asked him about the problems that id heard about. He told me that the rear shock was now stronger and i could see the linkage had been changed. He told me the swinging arms had been strengthened.Here is a list of 2013 improvements

After riding Freixas's bike and seeing the Jotagas guys at the factory and elsewhere I was sold. In truth , i did not test ride the other manufacturers bikes , but this bike immediately filled me with confidence to do harder sections. It ticked all of the boxes and was something different , so i decided to buy one.

I bought my Jotagas through JAM SPORT in Farnham who are my favourite dealer of choice. They aren't a nominated Jotagas dealer , but that wont make any difference as there aren't any specialist services required for a Jotagas such as fuel injection. They're local and a good bunch of guys.

On 26/7/12 wanting to get my hands on it as soon as possible i drove to Steve Saunders premises in Gloucestershire and picked mine up as they were being unloaded from an Arctic lorry as the first batch in the country.Mine was still in the crate and thats how it stayed untill i got home.

Beware of this man . He is highly dangerous :)

I unloaded the bike with my wife and some friends helping along with a beer on this warm evening. It was well packed , however there was a huge plastic bag placed over the bike had pulled down the rear mudguard and bent it out of shape. It was also missing the kick start. Steve told me about this when i got to his place. He told me that they would follow and that there had been a shortage at the factory. It was here shortly afterwards.Steve kindly ordered the mudguard.

The Jotagas JTG 300 My bent rear mudguard due to the polythene bag pulling down on it

Other than this everything was perfect! 3 weeks later the kick start and light arrived along with the manuals.The bike started immediately and it rode really well. I applied some heat to the rear mudguard to try and straighten it and it did a fair job , but it's still out of shape . I took it practising straight away and really loved it. I was amazed by the engine and how smooth it is.It is so soft on the bottom and grips amazingly. It has a 5 speed gearbox and each gear goes a long way. You can grab a handful of throttle and the power just comes in smoothly. It is so far away from being anything im used to . I cant tell you how much it grips!. I started riding it in lower gears but as time progressed i started to go back to my usual style of pulling 2nd and 3rd and it gripped even better. This bike grips better than anything ive ridden. The front end is very well planted. It has never pushed out on the front. I have wound the compression slightly up one one fork leg and also like full rebound on the front. The Marzocchi front forks are excellent . I have wound up the spring preload on the rear and moved it to the 12 click(out of 20) on the rear shock. The click adjuster makes so much difference and on the 20th click the shock doesnt move at all. On zero clicks its very bouncy. Ive also adjusted the footrests back and moved the handlebars forward.

My first impression of the bike is that it is so so light. Its only 64KG.Its like a push bike.It steers amazingly and grips like nothing else. The engine is very quiet but there is some slight clutch clatter (you know what i mean) at low idle with the clutch out in neutral. As soon as you pull the clutch in the noise dissapears. The engine is much quieter than the GasGas engine. I am absolutely delighted with the purchase and with 4 trials under its belt it hasnt had anything go wrong with it at all ( and so it shouldnt !).

At every trials it had attracted a great deal of interest as its so new and rare.Yesterday 30/9/12 i rode the Bognor mcc - The Colonels cup trial. The trial was at Henly near Fernhurst , West Sussex. This was an AMCA no stop trial with an entry of 90 or so riders. It was great bit of land with a nice ride around between sections. The sections were laid out on rocks , mud hills and huge hills. It was a good old fashioned trial with no need to stop and hop. The Jotagas was brilliant and amazed everyone with the amount of grip it had. I had many observers and riders commenting on them being amazed at the amount of grip it had. The plastic radiator guard fell off but luckily it was handed in buy a rider - thanks. Ill secure this better ,now i know.The paint has rubbed off a small area of the rear shock , but that doesnt concern me.

The Jotagas JTG 300 rear shock paint has been rubbed off by my right boot, but i can turn the spring around or take it off easy to repaint.

I could always turn the spring around and hide it. The whole bike was plastered in mud but it all power washed off well. The area around the front of the engine/exhaust had some mud in it , so ill fit gaffer tape around this area as i don't want to cable tie on any little protector or fit a front mudguard flap. The air filter was clean or mud , but got cleaned anyway. It can be accessed with one screw.

The Jotagas JTG 300 air box

Ive attached a pipe on the carb overflow as water might get in when power washing.The bike helped and i think i rode really well yesterday . Oh , as there was mud on the side of my boots some anodizing has been rubbed off on the left hand side of the frame about the footrest. I guess it is only microns thick. Ill put on some clear plastic to stop it getting worse.

The Jotagas JTG 300 frame and air box scuffing

After the muddy trial i removed the rear shock to check and clean the bearings. It took all of 2 minutes with 2 very trick bolts to undo only. The o rings on the bolts had done their job and kept the dirt out. The ease of maintenance on this bike is a big plus. The carb comes out easy after undoing to 2 jubilee clips , the air filter comes out with 1 screw and as ive said the shock is easy to get out to adjust and service the linkage.

The Jotagas JTG 300 . The shock is so easy to get out to adjust the spring compression and to clean the bearings. There is no excuse now.

Its a superb trials bike thats top quality and beautifully engineered. It looks great and is easy to work on. I couldn't ask any more.

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RETROTRIALS

Im a new 2013 Jotagas owner. This is the first new bike ive owned in 10 years. This blog will report honest feedback on the bike.Positive and negative.